Means for corrugating sheet metal.



G. BAUMGARTNER. MEANS FOR GORRUGATING SHEET METAL,

. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1908. 1,098, 144.

Patented May 26, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

G. BAUMGARTNER'. MEANS EOR GORRUGATING SHEET METAL.

APPLICATION FILED -TAN.30, 1908. 1,998, 144, Patented May 26, 1914 a SHEETS-SHEET 2. q

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G. BAUMGABTNER. MEANS FOR GOREUGATING. SHEET METAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1908.

- Patented May 26, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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0. BAUMGARTNER.

MEANS FOR OORRUGATING SHEET METAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. a0, 1903.

1,098, 144. Patented May 26, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Il ya 0. BAUMGARTNER. MEANS FOR OOBBUGATING SHEET METAL.

5 SHEETS-fifiBET 6.

H van tor; .60 dbaz/ Patented May 26, 1914.

APPLICATION FILED JARZBO, 1908.

ATE thi CONE/4-1 BAUMGARTNEB, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNGR T0 GENERJLL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, .191%.

Application filed January 30.1908. Serial No. .13,3'?2.

To aZZ w]: am it may CL new a Be it known that I, CONRAD 'BAUMGART- NEH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Corrugating Sheet Metal, of which the followin; is a specification.

This invention relates to means for corrugating heavy sheet iron or steel, for the purpose of forming the walls of transformer tanhs. At the present time large transformers are immersed in oil contained in tanks of metal, the walls of which are corrugated or fluted to afford as large a surface as possible to promote the radiation or" the heat absorbed by the oil. In attempting-to make such tanks from sheet iron or steel, it has been found difficult to make the corrugations very deep, owing to the impossibility of using toothed con-ligating rolls with deep closely spaced teeth. If deep teeth are used, they must be spaced widely apart in order to enable them to enter and'clear each other in the revolution of the rolls. But if spaced widely apart the resulting corrugations are unsuitable for a transformer tank, not givingenough surface for proper radiation. The problem, therefore, is to produce'deep closely spaced corrugations without unduly stretching or breaking the sheet metal. It is evident that this cannot be successfully done with dies which corrugate the whole sheet at once, and if the corrugations are to be made onev by one, a machine using rolls is much simpler to operate.

My improved method consists in rolling corrugations by means of toothed rolls havlog widely spaced teeth which will clear each other without trouble, then squeezing the corrugations together, finally bringing them all to a standard shape and regularityof spacing, trimming off the edges of the sheet, and Hanging it for welding to an adjacent sheet. This method'is carried out by any suitable mechanism, such for instance as that illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which 7 Figure 1 is a front elevation of the crimp ing machine for dating or corrugating the sheets and squeezing the corrugations closer together; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the same; Fig. 4 is an elevation of a portion of the friction clutch; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the clutch; Fig. 6 is asectional dctail of the mechanism for lifting and lowermg the tweezer jaws; Fig. 7 is a similar view of the mechanism for operating said yaws; Fig. 8 is an elevation of the boxes 'for the shafts and the means for adjusting carried out by the mechanism shown. in Figs.

1 to 8 or" the drawings. I This machine, which I term the crimping 'inachine, comprises two end frames or uprights 12, joined at thetop by a beam or stay 3 and lower down by the front and rear girders 4 5. To the lower portions of the end uprights there are bolted the brackets 6 7, respectively, provided with journal bearings for the two parallel shafts 8 9 which extend across the machine. The upper portions of the uprights are vertically slotted to receive the blocks 10 11, one above the other, containing journal bearings for two shafts on which are mounted the corrugating or crimping rolls 1'2 13, which have widely spaced deep teeth. 'On the ends of these shafts are the meshing pinions 1d 15. The shaft 16 of the lower roller 13 driven by a train of spur gears and pinions i7 18 19 20, the latter being keyed on the shaft 9. A spur gear 21 is loosely sleeved on said shaft and is suitably driven, asby the'electric motor 22. Said gear is adjacent to a dish 23 whose hub is free-to slide lengthwise of the shaft 9, preferably by being splined upon the halo of one of the pinionsQO. In the hub of the disk is a circumiierential groove 24. to receive pins carried by the arms of a 'fork 25 on the upper end of a lever 26 which is pivoted at its lower end to a block 27. A shaft 28 extends across the end of the machine and is provided with one or more operating handles The shaft carries an arm 30 which is connected with the lever 26 bya link 31, the arm and the link forming a toggle which, when straightened out, acts to force the disk 23 toward the gear 21., The latter has a COlllCill recess into which ill roll rests solidly on the bottom of the upright slot in the end upright. Between ii is and the upper ournal box 10 there 18 shim $32, as shown in. Fig. The upper surface of this shim and the lower surface of the box 10 are inclined so that when said shim is moved iengthwise by the adjusting screws 33 and the distance between. the" centers of the rolls 13 is altered, to insuie the proper working of said rolls. After adjustment, the heavy set screw or clamping screw 35, abutting between the block 10 and the stay 3 can be tightened to hold the boxes rigidly in place.

in order to prevent tearing or injuring the sheet metal, it is necessary that the pitch of the teeth on the crimping rolls be such that only one tooth will be in mesh. at any one. time. as.- .learly shown in Fig. 3. The Llltflti of this construction is to impart to the sheet metal aseries of broad shallow corrugations; whereas, in transformer tanks it is desirable to make the corrugations deep and narrow, as explained above. The next step of my method, therefore, is to squeeze together the wide corrugaaions. This may be accomplislwd by any suitable device, but I prefer to effect ithy a pair of tweezer jaws 36 8? nnninl'ed in the frame of the crimping machine and driven from the shaft 3 by means of cams BS 39 thereon. The upper edges of those jaws are rounded to fit into the corrugations of the sheet, and the jaws are pivoted or hinged together at 4.0 on an axis transverse to the machine. The jaw 37 is arranged to sli up and o clown on slides or ribs :i-l projecting from the brackets secured to the uprights 1 2. in order to move the jaws, so as to carry them up into adjacent corrugations as soon as a new corrugation passes beyond the rolls. the cams 3S lift pivoted rocker arms which are connected by linli's 1 i- With ears on the jaw 37. A plate -15 lies above the corrugated sheet of metal, and prevents it from being raised when the upper edges of the jaws are pushed into the corrugations.

The cams 239 on he shaft 8 are so a ranged that as soon as the tweeze' javs have been raised said cams force bacl; the lower ends oi lore 43, i'ulcrumcd at 47, and CPIHICClZQi at their upper ends by adjustable links 48 with the lower end of the tweezer jaw 36. This action of: the cams 89 brings the upper edge of the jaw 36 toward the jaw 37 and SQLHHTZUS the corrugation lying between them. The plate 49 on which the sheetrests has fingers Whielrprojeot through openings 50 in the tweezer rip the aws and serve to m.

sheet from said awe when they move down ard. By'ineans, therefore, oi these tweezer be relatively Wide shallow corrugations xornied by the rolls are compressed. together into relatively narrow deep ones.

The next step in. my method eonsists in evening all the corrugations so that they will have a uniform sl'x.ape,'ti.'iniming the edges the. sheet. and properly fianging or otherwise shoeing said eiilges to enable two sheets to be readily joined together. ihe devices for effecting this shown in 9, i0, 12, and 14;. and-oonsist of a gang of rollers, preferably two pairs Cir-- cumi erentially grooved to permit the corrugations to pass through them. endwise. The first pair of rollers is composed'of preferably plurality ofdislis 51 laced in juxtaposition on a suitable shaft 52 and. having their edges thinned, and rounded to fit into, the corrugations of the sheet. These rollers even up all. the corrugations and give them a uniform shape. At each end of the rollers is a pair of cutting disks 5? 54:, wh ch trim. the edges of the sheet. (Ewing to tie larger diameter of the cutter 54, the material will be grasped by the cutters an instant beforeit is caught by the disks 51. The other roller shafts 55 carry a few separated disks 56 which serve as guides for the sheet. These shafts also carry at their ends'special (liSliS 57 53 which give to the edges of t1e.sl1eet a flange or other shape which mal es it convenient to join adjacent by weldin The preferred form of the flange is siown in Fig. 11, at 59. On. the food table 80 there are stationar ribs 61 serving as guides to insure a true starting; of the corrugated sheet through. the rollers. This is highly necessary. because if the rollers should grasp one edge of the sheet be fore the other, the sheet would be badly twisted :un'i distorted.

The roller shafts are all driven synchronously by any suitable power, such as the motor (32, actummg the trains of gears shown.

W ha t I claim as new and desire to secure by Lotto a atent of the United States, is,-

i. in a lnilt'flllllkv for eorruggating sheet metal. the combination with crimping rolls. having widely spaced teeth. of simultanemisly maniating tweezer jaws adjacent there to "for squeezing the corrugations together.

2. in a machine for corrngating sheet metal, the combination with crimping; rolls havin widely spaced teeth, of simultane ously opcmting tweezer gaws adgaoeno thereto for squeezing the corrugations togetl'iei.

and means for raising and lowering said Jaws.

8. In a machine for corrugating sheet metal, the combination with crimping rolls having widely spaced teeth of simultaneoo sly operating tweezer fiaws adjacent thereto tor squeezing the corrugations together, means for raising and lowering said jaws,

and means for opening and closing said jaws in syncln'onisin with their. up and down movements.

1. The combination with rolls for forming wide shallow corrugations in sheet metal, of tweezer jaws adjacent to said rolls, rotary cams for raising and lowering said jaws, and gear connection between said cams and said rolls whereby the jaws are caused &

to operatesimultaneously with the rolls to m produce ce'ep closely spaced corrugations in the sheet metal.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of Januafy,.l908. CONRAD BAUMGARTNER. Witnesses BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN ORFORD. 

